Texas Tech-ex Wes Welker isn't bragging, but he has another great quarterback

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Spoiled by all those spirals from Tom
Brady, there was only one other quarterback Wes Welker was willing to play for:
Peyton Manning.

Just four months into his pairing with Denver’s QB, Welker didn’t
hesitate when asked on the eve of the Broncos training camp what, from his
unique perspective, was the difference between the top two quarterbacks of his
generation.

“They’re both spectacular, so I don’t think there’s too much of a
difference between them,” Welker said. “It’s like comparing Picasso and
Michelangelo. It’s hard to compare the two.”

Welker isn’t sure if he’s a Michelangelo guy or a Picasso guy,
either.

“I couldn’t even tell you,” Welker confessed, revealing he’s less
an art aficianado than he is a connoisseur of quarterbacks. “Somebody threw
those names at me one time and I thought it sounded pretty good.”

What sounds good to Manning is having Welker in the slot this
season.

He’ll team up with fourth-year pros Demaryius Thomas and Eric
Decker to give the Broncos a top receiving trio.

Thomas and Decker combined for 179 catches and 23 TDs last
season, and Welker had 118 receptions and a half-dozen touchdowns in New
England.

Of course, with a terrific tight end group and Manning’s
spread-it-around offense, Welker figures there’s no way he’s going to catch that
many passes this season, and he’s fine with that.

He said he doesn’t need to be force-fed the ball to get into the
flow in this offense. And he’s certainly never been one to retreat to the huddle
barking at the quarterback about how open he was on the previous play.

“For me, it’s just doing my job and doing what I can do to help
the team win. I don’t think it’s anything beyond that and really worrying about
targets or catches or anything else,” Welker said.

“And that’s the way I’m looking at it and if that takes catching
one pass and blocking all game or if that takes 10 catches, whatever it is,
that’s what it’s going to be: whatever it takes to win.”

For all his gaudy statistics over his career, Welker isn’t really
a big numbers guy. He doesn’t judge his production strictly by statistics, so
he’s not going to sulk if he has a quiet day so long as somebody else is the
beneficiary of him getting shut down.

“I judge it by whether I got a plus or minus on the play,” Welker
said. “Did I do what I needed to do on that particular play? And do it the right
way? And I think that’s the way you really judge it.”

So, sometimes, two catches is better than eight, a quiet
afternoon is better than a busy one.

“Absolutely. I think that’s very accurate. As long as you’re
doing your job, your assignment, your technique, all those things and take care
of your business, then I don’t think it matters whether you produce or not,”
Welker said. “And hopefully if you do all of those things you do produce.”

In the shy Thomas and selfless Decker, the soft-spoken Welker
believes he’s found a pair of likeminded teammates, too.

“Those are tough guys that work hard and want to do well out
there on the field. I’m definitely excited to be playing with them,” Welker
said.

Welker was the crown jewel of Denver’s $125 million offseason
spending spree. He signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Broncos after
spurning the Patriots’ offer of $10 million over two years shortly after Brady
had restructured his contract to allow New England more salary cap flexibility
to try to keep his targets together.

While the Broncos have an embarrassment of riches for Manning to
choose from, the Patriots may start the season without their seven leading
receivers from last year. Among them is tight end Aaron Hernandez, who was cut
after being charged with murder this summer.

That’s something Welker didn’t want to talk about Wednesday.

“I just pray for everybody involved and just try to move forward
with training camp and everything else,” Welker said.

And he’s eager to see what he and Manning can do together after
all that success he had with Brady over the last six seasons, but he’s preaching
patience.

“Even in my fifth, sixth year in New England, I was still feeling
like I was getting comfortable,” Welker said.

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